First Academy Classes!

Saturday, Sept. 27 was so much fun. We had students signed up in each class and have heard that more will be registering by next Saturday. I taught The Gruffalo in the Story Drama classes (3 1/2 - 4 1/2 & 4 - K) and in the treasure trunk class the students became Adventurers and rescued a piece of the lost map from the sleeping dinosaur.

Here's the students as The mean, horible Gruffalo. & The Adventurers capturing the map from the Dinosaur.

Here are the students as mice looking for nuts in the forest. They don't know that a fox is right around the corner.

Here's a picture of us at the beginning of each class unpacking one of our drama tools: Imagination.

more later...

Giving Thanks!

• With only a few more days until classes start, we have a lot for which to be thankful.
  


• 1. We have a logo and it's whimsical, risk taking, professional and fun. It's us. Thanks to the generous designers who gave us this gift.


• 2. We have had donations this week: 40 chairs, a couch/loveseat/ottoman, desk, and possibly even a wall.


• 3. We had 7 students in our Story Drama open class. Our first students and the class was a hit!


• 4. We have 3 founding families who have donated $1000 so far to support establishing the company - only 7 more to go.

Thank you!

Planning the Party!

As we're slowly moving into the space - I am overwhelmed with a mixture of joy and dread. Joy: that this theatre is really happening, the community is supporting it, folks are slowly registering for classes, we have two board members and performance projects are swimming around in my head. Dread: it feels like the team and I are planning a huge party, activities, decorations, food and do not know if anyone will show up. I guess this is all a part of starting a new venture.
We are in "Getting the Space Ready" mode. We're going to be doing it in a few stages:

Stage One - to be completed by Monday, Sept. 22

1. Clean space (carpets to be cleaned at the end of this week)
2. Activate window space (class description/theatre description/photos)
3. Hang Tricycle outside the space - under the awning
4. Hang colored material/poster board from ceiling to create a boarder in space
5. Define classroom area with tape/chairs
6. Set up lobby with desk/chairs/table
7. Create shelves for storage areas

Stage Two - To be completed by Nov 1? or when we have the money
1. Students paint personal bricks in back Green Room
2. Build wall to define classroom space ($)
3. Hang mirrors on back of wall ($)
4. Hang curtain over mirrors ($)
5. Hang curtain on other side of room ($)
6. Paint walls black (bottom half - chalk board black and upper half- regular black paint) ($)
7. Build stage blocks (wood/labor/paint) ($)
8. Build lighting structure ($)
9. Purchase stage lights and board ($)

What am I missing?

Registration is OPEN!

We've signed the lease on our space and registration is open! Now, we're working on getting the word out to parents in Bentonville, Rogers, Bellavista and the surrounding cities. Our marketing budget is small - so we're looking for the most bang for our buck. Christa, Molly and I got our kids together late last week and took some photos for our Fall marketing materials. It's amazing how creative we can be when push comes to shove. Once we get classes going, we'll have a professional photographer come in an take photos for our marketing materials. Until then, Cat, Hunter, Maeve and Collier will have to act for us (which isn't hard!). Let us know if you have a group that you'd like to send a flyer to. We'll have two - one with all the classes (ages newborn-18yrs) and one with only the Project Play (newborn - 6 yr. and Adult) and Dramatic Play (3 1/2 - K). We're going to have an ad and article in Peek-A-Boo as well as send a message to all the Moms clubs. We've planned a GREAT PARTY!!! - now we just have to get the word out so that folks will come. This is more nerve wracking than I thought.